China bans free plastic bags at all stores in efforts to tackle a significant source of litter. The Chinese use up to 3 billion plastic shopping bags per day. Can you believe that worldwide only 1-3% of plastic bags end up getting recycled?
It takes 10,000 barrels of oil to manufacture 100 million plastic bags. So, this means not only a dramatic cut in litter and consumerism but also a significant reduction in greenhouse gases released by China that cause Global Warming.
Now, the Chinese will form new habits and bring their enviornmental resuseable bags to the supermarket and when shopping, if they do not want to get charged. They will be encouraged to use clothbags and baskets to hold their vegetables.
What you can do is to be sure to reduce, reuse and recylce your plastic bags. And ask for paper bags at the supermarket not plastic or better yet bring your own cloth bag , like over a Billion people are doing in China.
Other places where plastic bags are banned:
South Africa, Uganda, Bangladesh and in San Francisco, California where plastic bags are outlawed at checkout in supermarkets.
Every day is earth day but today, April 22nd, we celebrate the date worldwide. On Earth Day millions of people all around the world will be going green today. Here are some things you can do:
-Call your Congressman and tell them: "The current global warming proposals in Congress are inadequate. I want renewable energy, no more new coal-burning plants, carbon-neutral buildings, and a new green economy." (capitol: 202-224-3121 and ask for your city's Congressman. Direct line to Lincoln Diaz-Balart 202-225-4211)
-Get rid of plastic bags! Use a reusable cloth or paper bags or no bag at all. Reuse your grocery bags as trash bags. If you do have plastic bags make sure to recycle them!
-Never ever liter into the ocean.
-Use empty jars to hold leftover food instead of buying Tupperware.
-Use cloth napkins or towels.
-Recycle your electronics (by either giving it away or dropping it off at a Best Buy store recycling kiosks located just inside the door. )
-Take a 5 minute cold shower.
-Plant a tree.
-Go organic today and only buy local grown organic food.
-Use public transportation or car pool to work today and if you want to be really eco-friendly use your god-given form of transportation, your pretty set of feet!
Environment impact of plastic shopping bags
The raw material of plastic bags is oil. Therefore, the more we use plastic bags, the more we waste oil - a non-renewable energy source. The petroleum-based plastic bags take decades to break down, so if they are not recycled they litter. It creates visual pollution: in the streets, on the beaches etc. Also, they can clog roadside drains, which could cause street flooding during heavy rainfall. Plastic bags can be recycled but it rarely happens: according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, only 1% of plastic bags were recycled in 2000, against twenty percent for paper bags.
They endanger wildlife and particularly sea life such as sea turtles and dolphins which can die of entanglement, suffocation, and ingestion because they assume that these bags are jellyfish.
For the past few years, there has been rising international awareness regarding the damaging and dangerous impact on the environment of plastic bags. Governments all over the world have decided to get involved in that particular issue: Some governments have decided to ban them: Bangladesh, Bhutan and Zanzibar. Plastic bags should no more be given for free in China from June 1st. These bags are surcharged in Germany, South Africa, Ireland and Israel. Several countries try and promote, trough major retailers, the use of cloth bags, paper bags or grocery bags: United Kingdom (with Tesco), France (with Carrefour), New Zeland.
Plastic bags are already used less than paper bags by American consumers, and there have been no government actions to further curb their use. But large cities such as San Francisco and Portland, OR, have planned or plan to ban plastic bags, whereas Seattle, WA will certainly launch a 20 cent “green fee” on plastic bags.
What YOU can still do! Reuse your plastic shopping bags: use them as trash so as not to buy others that are more energy wasting; use them for storage. Use paper bags rather than plastic bags when you are given the choice. Use reusable grocery bags, which always have a lower environmental impact.
And yet with all these numbers, Chinese per capita emissions remain one-quarter of our own here in the US. If the Chinese economy steps into our carbon footprint, all other greenhouse gas reduction efforts will be for naught. But I have hope for China because their government knows that climate change will impact their country as much, if not more, than many others. That would leave them with a structural competitive disadvantage, which the Chinese have generally avoided. Just take a look at the Chinese water situation. Half of the country's land is arid or semi-arid, and like the American West, vulnerable to drying out in the early stages of climate change. Climate change linked drying could reduce China's agricultural output by 5 to 10 percent by 2030, which would be a disaster in a country that the authors point out has 20 percent of the world's population and 7 percent of its arable land. Chinese government officials know they have an environmental disaster unfolding within their country. If the US takes positive steps towards reducing our own emissions and helping the Chinese with theirs, I think we will find a willing partner. After all, there is one bright spot in the journal article. China's reforestation efforts, which replant trees that act as carbon sinks. Forest cover has increased from 12% in 1980 to 18.2% in 2005. My back-of-the-envelope math says that added 348,000 square miles of forest to China. That's a whopping 223 million acres.
China is Darfur's biggest trading partner. They buy more than 75% of Sudanese oil and in addition sell guns to Sudan. Many believe this lucrative arrangement is buying Sudan diplomatic cover in Darfur. Beijing has blocked all efforts to send UN peacekeepers into Darfur. Prompting accusation that Beijing is complicit to the Darfur genocide.
Facts in Darfur:
400,000 thousand killed
2 million displaced (chased out of their homes. Often their homes and villages are burned down. Their alternative in the best case is to live in refugee camps most end up living under trees.)
QUESTION: is targeting the Olympics the only way to get the Chinese government to use its influence to stop the Darfur Genocide?
This Sunday, I was privileged with an invitation to attend the conference at La Sorbonne University, hosted by Queen Rania of Jordan. I found the conference to be quite moving and inspiring not to mention Queen Rania was absolutely exquisite. She is not only compellingly intelligent but disarmingly poised. She impeccably addressed the crowd with affection and commanded the podium with such adeptness and knowledge of the world's major humanitarian concerns of today. She is perhaps one of the most eloquent and captivating speakers I have ever heard. Her two-hour discourse and interview was given without one minute falter, stutter, incomplete thought or unclear message. With optimal use of the English language (Arabic being her native language) she began her speech with an anecdote that brought the crowd to a burst of laughter. This queen even has a good sense of humor!
HM Queen Rania is undoubtedly the face of modern royalty and is a wonderful representation of an Arab, a Muslim, and a Mother. She is constantly taken with her non-stop philanthropic work with poverty, women rights, children's issues and initiating dialogue with young people across the world to challenge Arab stereotypes.
She gave a speech and was addressed by questions from a student panel on the discussion of Civil Engagement. Civil Engagement described by Queen Rania is the sense of dedicating ourselves to the betterment of humanity…and working -- as individuals and together -- for understanding, global harmony, and peace. Photo: Queen Rania of Jordan on April 6, 2008 at La Sorbonne University in Paris. photo taken by me.
Below is my favorite part of her speech....
For me, as an Arab, a Muslim and a mother of four, the schism that worries me most is the growing gulf of perception and trust between the Muslim world and the West. The only people who benefit from our disunity are the extremists – the very forces who threaten the hopes we all share for a brighter tomorrow.
Too often, this rift is reflected and reinforced by the tone of our interactions – whether the issue is how to balance the right to free speech with the need for respect among faiths… or the wearing of religious symbols… or the root causes of conflict… or immigration… or Islam itself. Instead of joining in conversation, each side feels that the other is shouting. Both sides feel increasingly aggrieved. Emotions overtake fact.
And just as troubling, our lack of empathy for each other can limit our own potential for progress. Because when we are blind to one other’s point of view, we often cease to look inward as well.
We know that as Muslims, we cannot complain that we are negatively stereotyped by the West, unless we ourselves address some of the factors behind those perceptions.
And while we are right to deplore Islamophobia, and the branding of Muslims as terrorists… we must face up to the fact that many terrorist attacks in recent years have been committed by people who wrongly claim to be acting in the name of Islam.
And I cannot speak for the West…I cannot suggest the issues for introspection or the areas for self-assessment, but I hope that all of you will think about what they might be… because building cross-cultural acceptance has to be a two-way street. Dialogue requires us all to take part… to speak… to share… and to listen.
We must break that cycle. We have to restore a sense of shared humanity… of connection… compassion… and willingness to stand in one another’s shoes.
And it may sound daunting. But I believe there is real cause for optimism too – starting with the findings of a fascinating poll that Gallup released earlier this year.
On the one hand, the poll shows that many in Europe and the United States are convinced the Muslim world isn’t committed to improving relations with the West.
Likewise, large majorities in every Middle Eastern country surveyed said they don’t think the West is committed to better relations with the Muslim world.
At the same time, people on both sides say, in overwhelming numbers, that the quality of the relationship between the Muslim and Western worlds is something important to them.
In other words: East and West both honestly believe it is important to fix the relationship. But both sides genuinely think that the other side doesn’t feel the same way.
So the problem isn’t that people don’t care. It’s that they don’t see their caring reflected. They don’t perceive an equal sense of commitment from the other side.
We can change this. But we have to start by dismantling mutual stereotypes. We have to reject easy caricatures in favor of close inspection – whether we’re dealing with matters of integration and assimilation… or international relations more broadly… or the simple act of getting to know others different from ourselves.
That’s why I recently set up a YouTube account, so that the YouTubers everywhere can join me in a cyber conversation, and break down the damaging stereotypes of the Arab world which malign my region and its people. I hope to show viewers everywhere the truth about the part of the world I cherish and call home.
And the interesting thing is that as we exchange knowledge, we forge friendships in the process…virtual handshakes are extended, and new paths of understanding and acceptance are formed.
It’s that kind of caring that matters; and it can’t be decreed or imposed from above. It has to emerge from the bottom up… one open mind and open heart at a time.
Thank you very much.
Click here for Speech---http://www.californiawomen.org/conference_media.html
Visit SaveDarfur.org and sign the petitions which send emails to the White House and investment companies that invest in stocks that support the Sudanese oil companies, such as PetroChina. The petition requests these companies and the White House to DINVEST and make sure our American tax-paying dollars do not go to Sudan.
I signed the petitions and I just received email reply from the White House! Go to SaveDarfur.org now and sign the petition.
George Clooney addresses the United Nations about Darfur.
Click above title for the movie link (full-length) or rent it.
"Watch this. Get your friends to watch it. Talk about it. Argue about it. And then call someone." - George Clooney
Above is a nice summary of the movie by CNN.
NO END IN SIGHT, based on the Iraq War, was nominated for an Oscar this year for Best Documentary. Charles Ferguson, political science professor, createdthe documentary without a narrator or fancy story-telling but rather by a compilation of interviews with Iraq-War insiders. This is what makes the film so powerful, the fact that the story is being told first-hand from the inside. He gathered over 200 hours of footage and interviews with former Bush-administration officials, soldiers, journalists and academics who were working in the war in Baghdad or Washington.
After I watched this film I felt like sharing it with every American because it truly reinforced the importance of the Right to Vote. How disastrous the results can be, for our country and the world, when electing the wrong incapable candidate for President.
Watch it! Click the blog title above for the full-length movie link.
Photo: Leonardo DiCaprio's - The 11 th Hour Film "A Tale of Ancient Sunlight & Global Warming"
Well, by now we have all heard about Global Warming, but I have often wondered what I can do in my daily life to reduce it? Well here is an article I found with all the details. Collectively, we can make a difference!
Top 10 Things You Can Do to Reduce Global Warming
1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Do your part to reduce waste by choosing reusable products instead of disposables. Buying products with minimal packaging (including the economy size when that makes sense for you) will help to reduce waste. And whenever you can, recycle paper, plastic, newspaper, glass and aluminum cans. If there isn't a recycling program at your workplace, school, or in your community, ask about starting one. By recycling half of your household waste, you can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide annually. zSB(3,3) Sponsored Links
2. Use Less Heat and Air Conditioning. Adding insulation to your walls and attic, and installing weather stripping or caulking around doors and windows can lower your heating costs more than 25 percent, by reducing the amount of energy you need to heat and cool your home. Turn down the heat while you’re sleeping at night or away during the day, and keep temperatures moderate at all times। Setting your thermostat just 2 degrees lower in winter and higher in summer could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year.
3. Change a Light BulbWherever practical, replace regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. Replacing just one 60-watt incandescent light bulb with a CFL will save you $30 over the life of the bulb. CFLs also last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, use two-thirds less energy, and give off 70 percent less heat. If every U।S. family replaced one regular light bulb with a CFL, it would eliminate 90 billion pounds of greenhouse gases, the same as taking 7.5 million cars off the road.
4. Drive Less and Drive Smart driving means fewer emissions. Besides saving gasoline, walking and biking are great forms of exercise. Explore your community’s mass transit system, and check out options for carpooling to work or school. When you do drive, make sure your car is running efficiently. For example, keeping your tires properly inflated can improve your gas mileage by more than 3 percent. Every gallon of gas you save not only helps your budget, it also keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. 5. Buy Energy-Efficient Products. When it's time to buy a new car, choose one that offers good gas mileage. Home appliances now come in a range of energy-efficient models, and compact florescent bulbs are designed to provide more natural-looking light while using far less energy than standard light bulbs. Avoid products that come with excess packaging, especially molded plastic and other packaging that can't be recycled। If you reduce your household garbage by 10 percent, you can save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.
6. Use Less Hot Water. Set your water heater at 120 degrees to save energy, and wrap it in an insulating blanket if it is more than 5 years old. Buy low-flow showerheads to save hot water and about 350 pounds of carbon dioxide yearly. Wash your clothes in warm or cold water to reduce your use of hot water and the energy required to produce it. That change alone can save at least 500 pounds of carbon dioxide annually in most households. Use the energy-saving settings on your dishwasher and let the dishes air-dry।
7. Use the "Off" Switch. Save electricity and reduce global warming by turning off lights when you leave a room, and using only as much light as you need. And remember to turn off your television, video player, stereo and computer when you're not using them. It's also a good idea to turn off the water when you're not using it। While brushing your teeth, shampooing the dog or washing your car, turn off the water until you actually need it for rinsing. You'll reduce your water bill and help to conserve a vital resource.
8. Plant a Tree. If you have the means to plant a tree, start digging। During photosynthesis, trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. They are an integral part of the natural atmospheric exchange cycle here on Earth, but there are too few of them to fully counter the increases in carbon dioxide caused by automobile traffic, manufacturing and other human activities. A single tree will absorb approximately one ton of carbon dioxide during its lifetime.
9. Get a Report Card from Your Utility Company. Many utility companies provide free home energy audits to help consumers identify areas in their homes that may not be energy efficient। In addition, many utility companies offer rebate programs to help pay for the cost of energy-efficient upgrades.
10. Encourage Others to Conserve. Share information about recycling and energy conservation with your friends, neighbors and co-workers, and take opportunities to encourage public officials to establish programs and policies that are good for the environment.
These 10 steps will take you a long way toward reducing your energy use and your monthly budget. And less energy use means less dependence on the fossil fuels that create greenhouse gases and contribute to global warming.
-From: Larry West on About.com
So, now you know a few simple ways you can contribute to caring for our earth. Was the "reducing garbage" one a surprise to you? It was for me. I did not realize garbage and landfills (where all our garbage ends up) released high carbon emissions. So, I will definitely be more conscious of what I throw in the garbage and think twice before ordering or serving myself food I can't finish that ends up in the garbage. Plus, I will stop going to restaurants that serve obnoxiously large amounts of food ("All you can eat" Buffets, NexxtCafé, etc.) I will also turn off my AC/heater when I leave the house and when I get home I might just open the windows and not use it at all for one week. Lets see how that goes!
What efforts will you make to reduce Global Warming tomorrow?? Let us know in the comment box.
Further explanation on how we can advance counter-terror.
The struggle against Islamic-based terrorism will be not simply a military campaign but a battle for public opinion in the Islamic world, among our allies, and in the United States. Osama bin Laden understands that he cannot defeat or even incapacitate the United States in a conventional war. What he and his allies can do is inflict enough pain to provoke a reaction of the sort we've seen in Iraq-- a botched and ill-advised U.S. military incursion into a Muslim country, which in turn spurs on insurgencies based on religious sentiment and nationalist pride, which in turn necessitates a lengthy and difficult U.S. occupation, which in turn leads to an escalating death toll on the part of U.S. troops and the local civilian population. All of this fans anti-American sentiment among Muslims, increases the pool of potential terrorists recruits.
That's the plan for Bin Laden for winning the war from a cave, and so far, at least, we are playing to script. To change the script, we'll need to make sure that any exercises of American military power helps rather than hinders our broader goals: to incapacitate the destructive potential of terrorists networks and win this global battle of ideas.
After spending this Easter weekend in Rome I have been thinking alot about religion and extremists who use religion to poetically justify their extreme ideas.
Above, I have a link to my favorite speech regarding east and west by Queen Rania, at the California Women's Conference, emphasizing a sentiment I feel we all, as Americans, need to embrace in order to battle the current trends of terrorism.
I feel our first step to truly battle terrorism from the mid-east is to eliminate the stereotypes and discrimination towards Muslims here in the west.
It is often said that the KKK is to Christianity what Islamic Extremists is to Muslims. They have almost the same correlation. So, if you are Christian hopefully by considering that it might further open your perspective to this situation. Here are some estimated facts.
There are 200 Million Christians in America.
and 5 Million KKK members in the United States (In the 1920's). Today there are a 3,500 thousand KKK members.(or Christian Extremists)
There are 1.5 Billion Muslims in the world.
and 2,000 thousand Al Qaeda terrorists in Iraq.
There are 44 Million people in Colombia
16,000 thousand FARC terrorists.
Colombia has a higher ratio of terrorists in their country than Al Qaeda does in Iraq. Colombians are not as foreign to us here in the West therefore we rightfully do not make stereotypes of them. We acknowledge their beautiful community fairly and we do not identify them by the few terrorists present in their region. We feel true sentiment and anguish when we see Colombia's people suffer as a result of terrorism. I wish we could find this same sincere sentiment for Iraqis and all Arab countries half-way around the world from us who are suffering due to the mis-managed war our president began. That same great sentiment we find for our courageous troops.
As a Christian Moderate, myself I do not want those in the east to assume all Christians have the same ideals as the Christian extremists in the KKK. And I think it is our duty not to make the same assumptions about those religions foreign to us.
I often hear on some cable news station, like Fox news, careless comments such as, "THEY are terrorists over there, in Iraq" or "THOSE people." They have to be more careful with their wording if not they are just promoting prejudices. (They should rather be politically correct and refer to Al Qaeda as Religious Islamic-Based Extremists.) Comments like this are isolating billions of Muslims who are not terrorists and are just placing them in the same pool as Al Qaeda. Put, yourself in their shoes, wouldn't that make you very, very upset? If we continue making these stereotypes we will only fan the flames of Anti-Americanism in the East.
"It is not the exremists that define a religion it is the moderates." - Queen Rania
We, the moderates in the Christian and Muslim religions must build a relationship so we can unite to eliminate terrorism. There is no other solution, Americans can not do it alone. East and West needs to join forces, Muslims and Christians need to join hands as Global Citizens in the pursuit of peace in our world. So, we need to reach-out to the Arab community and prove to them that we do not identify all followers of Islam by the actions of a few. We and the Media need to stop making generalizations and let's prove to extremist leaders, like Osama bin Laden, that they're wrong and that the West is a free democracy that promotes peace and human rights worldwide. We are in a "global war of ideas" and I feel like America might just be losing after the actions of the current White House administration. That is why all americans need to desperately take positive actions like this, no matter how small, to counteract the violence we have caused in the arab region in the past decade. There is no way to "win" this war in Iraq, but there is a way to "win" this "global war of ideas" and it begins with human compassion and education on the subject.
"Let's be a global citizen, understanding that others are like you then you want for others what you want for yourself" -Queen Rania
Video by Tariq
Examples of Americans and Iraqis working together:
